Of course, not everyone must complete their training with an award or a special commen­da­tion – although we are pleased when this is the case. This year, no less than four appren­tices were honored: Julian Härle, Linda Ostertag, Raphael Demuth, and Luca Stehle. Each of them had indi­vidual expe­ri­ences, but one thing they all found good was the quality of training at Uhlmann. Why is it so high? We pursued this ques­tion.

Learn to be inde­pen­dent

Alfred Merz is now training manager at Uhlmann. He himself was an Uhlmann appren­tice in the 1970s and later trained to become an instructor. He contributes the strength of Uhlmann training to a variety of factors, the first being inde­pen­dence. “I see myself more as a training mentor. I don’t stand there and tell the appren­tices to do some­thing this or that way. They must first work out things for them­selves. Natu­rally, I am there to answer their ques­tions”, he explains. This is a new expe­ri­ence for many, espe­cially for those straight out of school. In the end, however, it helps them to make progress.

The second factor is respon­si­bility, which is dele­gated to appren­tices at an early stage. After the first six months of their training, they start producing parts for regular orders. “What the appren­tices produce is later fitted in our machines”, says Merz. “It is impor­tant that the young people learn to be one hundred percent behind their work.”

The third factor is good commu­ni­ca­tion – between the instruc­tors, and between the instruc­tors and appren­tices. The trainees complete an anonymized survey once a year to assess how satis­fied they are with their training. “We are able to improve our perfor­mance on this basis”, states Alfred Merz. In turn, the training personnel meet every three to four weeks to discuss matters.

Uhlmann has a good repu­ta­tion

One outcome of the inter­play of these three factors is that our appren­tices are frequently commended and training at Uhlmann enjoys a good repu­ta­tion. “We hear this at voca­tional training fairs or from teachers in the schools”, explains Merz. Awards or commen­da­tions are often received at the end of an appren­tice­ship. Good exam prepa­ra­tion signif­i­cantly contributes to the good results regu­larly attained by our appren­tices.

“Several weeks before the final exam­i­na­tion in January, we spend time in the company going through exams tasks from previous years”, says Matthias Hötzinger, who super­vises the appren­tices together with the instruc­tors Alfred Merz and Michael Sälzle. “However, to reach the stan­dard of our top trainees, it is neces­sary to sit down at home and do the prover­bial home­work.”

Enjoy­ment is a must

One factor not to be neglected among all this learning is enjoy­ment. “I enjoyed my training in indus­trial mechanics from the start”, says Raphael Demuth. “The tech­nology behind a CNC machine, for example, fasci­nates me.”

Linda Ostertag liked being able to get a taste of widely differing areas during her appren­tice­ship. “It is very diverse”, she says. She is studying mechan­ical engi­neering based on the “Ulm Model”, a combi­na­tion of theory and prac­tice with a short­ened training period.

Luca Stehle, qual­i­fied indus­trial mechanic, partic­u­larly valued the good prac­tical orien­ta­tion. “I want to work as a design engi­neer at a later stage. It is very useful to learn in an appren­tice­ship how parts are made in the first place.”

Julian Härle, elec­tronics tech­ni­cian, was so moti­vated that even a six-month break due to illness did not hinder him. “I caught up on most things at home, but was always able to ask in the company if some­thing was not clear”, he explains.

Open to change and improve­ment

The instruc­tors are also committed to their work. “Aged over 60, I come into daily contact with 16- or 17-year-old young­sters. That keeps me fit and I enjoy it”, says training manager Merz. “I can teach the young people things, but person­ally gain from them as well. Learning never ceases, which is good.”